Abstract:

The Solar Decathlon is a biennial, award-winning program in which collegiate teams compete to design, build, and operate the best solar-powered house based on cost, energy, and attractiveness. The main purpose of the competition is to teach students about clean energy and provide them with unique training that will help them in their future careers ("About Solar Decathlon").
Ball State University, University of Louisville, and University of Kentucky, as a team, submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy and were accepted in the spring of 2012 to compete in the Solar Decathlon 2013. BSU is responsible for the architectural design while U of L and UK are responsible for the engineering design.
The spring semester of 2012 was devoted to designing a well-researched schematic design for the house that will be further developed in the later phases of the design process. In this thesis, I will discuss the unique experience of working with multiple disciplines on an architecture project as a participating architecture student.